Where`s the heart of the club

March 29 2010 at 7:12 PMNo score for this post

stamford blade (no login)

Lots of people on this site have been going down to BDTBL for decades (more than 5 decades in my case) and see the Club as a major ongoing part of their lives despite the fact that the team regularly changes, managers come and go, boards change etc. So whats the continuous bit? What`s the thread that makes SUFC such an ongoing part of our lives and makes our support usually outlive the rotation of individuals?
For my part, I think its a strong identification with the city (or more specifically with our part of the city), its memory, it`s routine and hope but I also think its a loyalty to a club which we need to think is loyal to us. This last bit`s vital. We love Morgan because he`s a blade and the same goes for lots of people from Cec Coldwell to Alan Woodward, through to Warnock and McCabe (when we all loved him). Not necessarily people who were born in the area but people who take the club seriously, take the trouble to commit to the area, maybe have their kids at school here.
With some very honourable exceptions in the backroom staff, it appears we`re currently very short of people who have a loyalty to us, the fans, the support base of the Club. We have players living in hotels or driving from distance with no deep down (or even skin deep!)identification. We have people who want to be liked by us but very few who are committed. So why should we be committed to them?
I think Blackwell`s been dealt a bad hand this year (but I personally think he lost it for good with his post Wembley interview.) I am sure McCabe`s not indifferent to the state of the club but he needs to tell us why we should continue with our support other than through habit. We can`t live on scraps, journeymen and waifs and stray players who can`t spell "Sheffield". If things are as bad as we all think they are, we need to be told. It may be McCabe`s money but it`s our club in the long term. Despite what McCabe might sometimes think, we`re not stupid and if we have to rebuild from the bottom, it is the hight of arrogance not to tell us.
We need to know and I think we need to know now before everyone drifts off into the summer. Who`s going to be the person to lead us out of the wilderness? Which players are going to commit to us so that we can commit to them. Who`s going to be the heart of the club alongside us?